


Stop the Needle Skips

by Chancy_Lurking



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Friendship, M/M, Pre-Slash, Shippy Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 14:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8921050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chancy_Lurking/pseuds/Chancy_Lurking
Summary: “You want the truth, Reid?” Alvez shrugs again, motioning vaguely with his hand. “Starts out real simple: I like to listen to you talk."





	

This was not a hard case.

Reid has been on hard cases before – he’s been dosed with anthrax, he’s been held at gun point, he’s been _shot_. He’s had to examine photos of dozens of dead children and he’s come home in strange clothes because his own were covered in the blood of someone he couldn’t save. Today, aside from the slight bruise forming on Reid’s jaw do to an unfortunate run-in with a coffee table in an attempt to avoid a sniper, everyone had gotten out unharmed. But for some reason, Alvez has set to hovering.

It isn’t that Reid is particularly _bothered_ by it – he likes Alvez, could easily see them being friends in some capacity beyond being coworkers – but the fact that he’s only getting this attention after screwing up is making his hair stand on end a little. It’s a little too close to brotherly concern for Reid and it’s… it’s getting to him. It’s reminding him of Morgan.

A reminder that gets twisted around and confused when Alves turns to him as they’re getting on the elevator and says, with a friendly smirk, “Maybe we could go out for drinks or something, ah?”

For a moment, Reid can’t even respond, just standing there trying to figure out where this is coming from. He doesn’t like any of the things he figures.

“Did JJ put you up to this?” he asks instead of answering.

It hadn’t been ten minutes since he’d turned down JJ’s offer to go to Denny’s with the kids _directly_ after hemming and hawing when she’d asked if he’d spoken to Morgan recently. She hadn’t looked concerned at either of his negative answers, but then again, she’s a profiler. A lot of her job depends on keeping a level expression when she thinks she’s being lied to.

Alvez, though, seems genuinely confused by his response. “No?” he says, brow dipping, “Why would she?”

“Because I haven’t called Morgan recently,” he answers without looking over at him. “Thank you for the offer, but I think I’m going to pass.”

Alvez pauses, before shifting back with a confused look. “What does Agent Morgan have to do with us getting drinks?” he asks slowly.

“Agent Mor—” Reid cuts himself off, “ _Derek_ looked out for me, he was… he _is_ like an older brother,” he presses the ground floor button again, “People were concerned about me after he left and I lost my ‘ _protector figure_ ’, because I’m sure you could conclude why—” he motions at his bruised face, momentarily flustered when he realizes Alvez looks less surprised and more amused, “—why someone might think I need that.”

The door, mercifully, pings open and Reid rushes forward, “And while I’m glad you’re here and I _do_ think you are a great fit on the team, I don’t need anyone else to be what he was for me.”

“Woah, woah, slow it down a sec,” Alvez catches him gently by the arm.

When Reid’s eyes narrow at him, Alvez lets go immediately, raising his hands. He takes a few steps back until he’s standing a comfortable distance in front of Reid. “I’m not looking to be your big brother, doc,” he says, shrugging and putting his hands in his pockets, “I had something else in mind.”

Reid just blinks at him. “Something else like…?” he prompts, then flushes when Alvez pointedly bites his lip and raises his eyebrows. “Oh, you’re…” he stumbles, “You mean—wait, _really_?”

Alvez is nowhere near cruel enough to ask him out as a joke, – he practically wears bullied-in-elementary-middle-high-school across his face and Alvez wouldn’t exploit that – but Reid still isn’t quite sure he believes that’s what’s happening here.

“You didn’t notice?” Alvez chuckles, looking away in a nearly boyish sheepishness when Reid just stares at him blankly. “I thought I had a big ol’ blinking sign on my face.”

Reid frowns. “A sign that says what exactly?”

“You want the truth, Reid?” Alvez shrugs again, motioning vaguely with his hand. “Starts out real simple: I like to listen to you talk. You get in this _groove_ when you’re explaining the stuff nobody else gets, but you always have to cut yourself off and it drives me a little nuts,” he says with a half-smile and Reid knows he can’t tell if he means the good or bad kind of nuts. “I wanna know what it’s like when you _don’t_ hold back, when you don’t stop yourself.”

“Well…” Reid begins, embarrassed at the direct attention and at himself for misreading it, “from prior experience, I’ve heard it’s quite annoying.” He smiles slightly when Alvez laughs.

“It could be, it could be,” he allows, “ _Or_ it could be really interesting to the right audience,” he bites his lip again and pushes up on his toes, “I’ve heard I’m a great listener.”

Reid made a face. “Have you now?”

Alvez shrugged, caught out. “ _Vale, pues, no_ , but I’d like to try,” he steps closer when someone walks by, smiling at their sendoffs. “All this time,” he says conspiratorially, “it’s been like watching a professional dancer stop in the middle of a routine. Necessary part of the job, knowing when the info stops being relevant, you’re good at that. But it doesn’t have to be like that, not always,” he smiles, nudging Reid with his shoulder, “Not over dinner.”

Properly flushed now, Reid shuffles on his feet. “…I’m a terrible dancer,” he confessed with a tiny grin.

Alvez laughs again. “Well, whatever you do, at least you look good doing it, right?” he says and then when Reid’s eyebrows shoot up, his face falls, “Which I will never mention again if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“No, it-it doesn’t,” Reid replies quickly, “I just…” he waffles before admitting, “This is unusual.”

“Why?” Alvez asks with a wry twist of his mouth, “Guy like me gotta be straight, ah?”

“No, actually reports of incidences of male homosexuality or bisexuality vary widely depending on the study, but have reached claims of upwards of 45% of men. You’ve given no indication of a preference or prejudice one way or another, so I had no reason to classify you,” Reid answers instantly. “It’s that guys like you are generally out of my league.”

Alvez seems surprised by that, looking down with a cough as he shakes his head. “I don’t see it that way at all, Dr. Dreamboat,” he says with a smile, mostly just to see Reid blush.

The pink on Reid’s cheeks when he laughs does not disappoint.

“Ah, actually…” he begins, glancing around himself self-consciously and scratching his head. “You know what? I guess I wouldn’t mind a bite to eat right about now.”

“Yeah?” Alvez says and the joy in his face when Reid nods is genuine enough to be heartwarming. “Got any place in mind?” he asks, stepping forward to hold open the front door.

Reid perks up, walking out the door, turning back to speak to him excitedly. “Actually, yes! There’s a new ramen bar that just opened uptown that I’ve been meaning to try,” he says, falling into step beside Alvez, “They make their own noodles and broth every night and also buy most of their meat and vegetables locally. I was a little suspicious of that, a lot of typical ramen ingredients are non-native species, but the restaurant is actually owned by professional ramen chefs, so I would imagine they know what they’re doing.”

“Really?” Alvez asks and this time, Reid can actually see the genuine interest through the amusement in his eyes. “Can I take it that you know the entire history of noodle soup?”

“A great deal of it, but the origins of ramen in particular are debated due to the interwoven nature of the history of China and Japan,” Reid says with a smile, when they reach Alvez’s car, in some silent understanding that Reid should not spiel and drive, he pauses. “You’re aware you’ll have to stop me at some point or was your angle to keep me all night?” He’s met with a laugh.

“Well, Spencer, whatever you don’t finish we’ll have to meet up another night to get the rest of, deal?” Alvez winks at him as he gets into the car.

Reid’s mouth quirks towards a smile. “It’s a date, Luke.”


End file.
